The invention relates generally to a cooking range with a cooking plate made of glass, glass ceramics or a similar material, and particularly to a framing means for framing the cooking plate. The framing means may have attachment means that are bonded with the edge of the plate, means of edge protection and lateral closure of the plate, and a cooking range casing that surrounds the plate at its bottom and has sides and a bottom.
Such a cooking range was made known from German patent DE 31 26 013 C2.
In the known case, the frame is designed in one piece. Seen from the side, it has a middle ridge on which, at the proper level, a flange is formed that can be bonded to the lower rim of the plate. This flange holds the plate, so to speak. The section of the frame projecting over this, i.e., the outer flange, protects the shock-sensitive edges of the plate, a necessity particularly with brittle glass or glass ceramic plates. Furthermore, this section of the frame forms the transition to the sill plate in the case of built-in cooking ranges or for outside covering in the case of upright stoves. In this instance, the part of the flange that is visible from the outside must meet aesthetic and hygienic requirements. The familiar cooking range also has a cooking range casing designed in one piece, which takes in the frame and which has heating elements and the like arranged on its bottom. To be able to be gain access to the inside of the cooking range for a repair, the frame with the plate bonded in place is attached on the cooking range casing via a detachable snap and screw connection and can be removed by lifting it upward.
Comparable one-piece frames with another detachable connection to the cooking range casing are also shown in German patents DE-U 86 24 136 and 77 18 108.
The known cooking ranges with one-piece frames have the disadvantage that a frame built for an upright stove cannot also be used as frame for a built-in stove and vice versa. For this reason, a new design of the frame is necessary for an upright stove as well as for a built-in stove, with additional, expensive production tools also needed.